@Rant I've been in professional (video) game development for a good while, and one thing I know is that no matter how much internal testing you do with
any game, there are always big, potentially-fatal balance issues - it's just a matter of when they get discovered. This is, in fact, why we get speed runs!
There's lots of reasons for balance issues in published games of all kinds: the iterative nature of game development, the size of the feature matrix, echo-chamber testing, and the inevitable difference in scale between the dev team size and the player pool size, among many many others...
And I am
confident that the Level Up folks did a ton of testing using the best methodology they could think of! I am certain many of them consider this a passion project that robbed them of time with their families and deprived them of sleep and that they poured in overtime to make this game as good as possible. I'm sure they felt great about the product they released (and they should - there's some
really great stuff in this product) even though they probably figured there'd be some rough edges. And, yeah, they missed some things, too, because
every game designer does. Some of those might even seem obvious to us outsiders because we come with fresh perspectives, but also, we lack the context of the original design and all the conversations and playtests that led them to this point, too.
Here's the thing, though - the Level Up developers
are engaging with the community. They're collecting surveys about issues, and it seems like there's a real opportunity to work together productively to improve this thing before they seal it in ink and paper. This is a unique chance to contribute productively before the game goes to print. I'm optimistic about the game as it stands, and I'm trying to set my expectations realistically about what they're like to change (or not change), but I also want to seize any chance to improve it, too...even knowing that no matter how carefully I read through text, I'm gonna miss some
big issues - and so will everyone else! When we get to the point that there are hundreds or thousands (or more, hopefully) of A5E games running around the world, I bet we'll all look back and wonder why certain issues weren't obvious during development (see contemporary criticisms of O5E balance, for example!!!!) But the more people collaborating toward positive solutions and problem solving, the better chance some of these land and make the game better for everyone who pledge support.
Anyway, for my part, I'm just hoping the developers will take the time as they need right now to listen to our biggest concerns, integrate appropriate changes, test those changes as best they can, and try to make sure the
print version of the books are as polished and balanced as possible. I think there's some great stuff in LU that moves the hobby forward, and anything I can do to improve that final product (even at the eleventh hour) seems worth it! I personally think you've brought some great insights to the A5E conversation, but tone matters, and I think a lot of readers tune out when a conversation gets too...thorny. If you, like me, want to see this product improve, I think we need to all view this as a collaboration where we try to solve problems, not just articulate their nuances!
To the rest, sorry for the off-topic tangent...